Ex-Faizabad DM concludes his deposition in Babri Masjid demolition trial

Faizabad’s former District Magistrate R N Srivastava on Saturday appeared before the special CBI court trying the Babri masjid demolition case and completed his deposition under section 313 of the Cr P C.

Faizabad’s former District Magistrate R N Srivastava on Saturday appeared before the special CBI court trying the Babri masjid demolition case and completed his deposition under section 313 of the Cr P C. Deposing before Special Judge S K Yadav, Srivastava maintained that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case due to political reasons. He asserted that the evidence led by prosecution agency CBI was fabricated and the witnesses acted against him and other accused under political pressure. Srivastava was the district magistrate of erstwhile Faizabad, now Ayodhya, when the disputed structure was allegedly pulled down by ‘kar sevaks’ on December 6, 1992.

His deposition could not be completed on Friday and Special Judge Yadav had directed him to appear before him on Saturday. Srivastava appeared before the court along with his counsel Abhishek Ranjan as the 20th accused in the case.

He made the deposition under the provisions of section 313 of the CrPC, a stage which follows the recording of prosecution evidence and gives an accused an opportunity to explain evidence adduced against him by the prosecution. The court is yet to record statements of 12 other accused, including former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, erstwhile Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and veteran BJP leader M M Joshi. CBI lawyers Lalit Kumar Singh, P Chakravarti and R K Yadav were present in the court during proceedings.